Dustin Brown belongs at left wing. He looks best there. As a right-handed shot, he is better set up for both seam passes as well as taking the puck to the inside.

The second line is a product of lack of options, as Dustin Penner has relegated himself back to his useless self. Now that the L.A. Kings are not asking him to play the dreaded dot to boards game and Penner is spending most of his time in a scoring role, the excuses are gone. One would think he wouldn’t need any given the simple fact it’s a contract year.

It’s hard to argue with the defensive pairings. The L.A. Kings defense has been a joy to watch. Still, I want Slava Voynov back and in Martinez’s position.

I have stopped asking for Jonathan Bernier to start. We have two outstanding goalies and one of the best Ds in the league in front of them. I fear we will burn Jonathan Quick out before the playoffs (yes, I said it, we’re going into the playoffs). Bernier should start no less than 20% of the games going forward…there I go, asking again. Hey, let a fan dream.

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Id like to see JB play a lot more than that. Almost in favor of 50% or close to it. Then in playoffs alternate back and forth to throw off the opposing teams game plan. Btw i have a sneaking suspicion well be once again facing vancouver in the first round this year

I have a feeling Bernier will only be seeing road games. When Sutter stresses winning at home and says Quick is the team’s best player, well then I imagine Sutter is going to throw Quick out there for every home game no matter the opponent.

“I fear we will burn Jonathan Quick out before the playoffs (yes, I said it, we’re going into the playoffs).”

… Yeah, I see the Kings going to the playoffs, for sure. The fact that they’re even part of the playoff conversation while scoring two goals a game all season and enduring the upheaval in this organization is quite impressive in itself.

Regardless of the loss yesterday, the team’s been playing well. Two losses in the last ten games and only 12 goals allowed in that span is alright with me. I’m still holding out hope that someway, somehow, this Kings’ team has a finishing kick for the ages still in them. All of this struggle will be forgotten quickly if the Kings can make good things happen in the spring.

Minnesota and Dallas don’t impress me at all; never have. Nashville should stay in the hunt. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Phoenix get in there. The top dogs in the West are rising to the top once again, and the Kings will have to beat one of them in a seven-game series if they want to make this season a success. It’s a tall order.

There’s talk about Tampa Bay looking for a goalie and D and LA came up in the conversation. Bernier was the guy mentioned but they’d have to give up someone of quality for us to go for that. Not only that but we’ve got some good depth on the D side as well. No way would they trade for Stamkos but that’s really the only guy I’d be willing to trade for.

“Bernier was the guy mentioned but they’d have to give up someone of quality for us to go for that.”

… Why? It’s pretty obvious the Kings don’t think Bernier can play; he couldn’t even get a start against one of the worst teams in the NHL. I certainly wouldn’t give up much for him if I were with another team. I’d be like “you don’t like what we’re offering you? OK, have fun with the goalie you don’t ever use and best of luck scoring a goal one day while you’re at it”

Because he’s not playing as much doesn’t make him a bad goalie. Bernier doesn’t equal Ersberg. Tampa Bay has Roloson and Garon. Garon…remember that idiot that used to play for us not too long ago? Those guys have got to start thinking goaltending and relatively soon. Roloson is in his 40’s and Garon is well Garon.

Bernier is young and has huge upside. Not only that, the kid has got the skills, imo, to be a top NHL goalie. Quick is our #1. The question for Tampa is whether they see Bernier being their starting goalie for the future.

… LOL. You need to read some posts, man. That’s not what I said. Hell, I’ve been Bernier’s biggest fan on the interwebs over the past several years. I KNOW he has all the ability to be a number one, and a good number one. I’ve gone on record as saying that when it was all said and done, Bernier would have a better career than Quick, in fact.

I’m saying that by the actions the Kings have taken, they’re making it very difficult on themselves to trade Bernier for any kind of value. When an organization doesn’t think enough of a guy to start him against the Columbus Blue Jackets, how can they possibly ask for much in return for trading him?

Actions speak louder than words. The Kings might pay some lip service to the notion of how they think the World of Bernier, or whatever – but no one who is in a position of leadership really acts as if they believe that. I know Quick is their number one goalie. That doesn’t mean it’s right to let a young goalie with this amount of promise rot away on the bench. There’s no reason for it, other than that the team doesn’t think he can play.

“I know Quick is their number one goalie. That doesn’t mean it’s right to let a young goalie with this amount of promise rot away on the bench. There’s no reason for it, other than that the team doesn’t think he can play.”

That’s my main point…it’s not a hidden secret that JB is a good goalie. Why not leverage his current abilities and upside with something that can add to the Kings offense now and for the next three to four years?

“I’m saying that by the actions the Kings have taken, they’re making it very difficult on themselves to trade Bernier for any kind of value. When an organization doesn’t think enough of a guy to start him against the Columbus Blue Jackets, how can they possibly ask for much in return for trading him?”

Cmon man you can’t be serious with this. You’ve got to know that there are scouts out there that probably have huge write ups of JB over the years. As for him not being played for the BJ game yeah it woulda been good but it’s one game. It might be a good thing for the scouts and other GM’s. If it can get them thinking “Well LA doesn’t really play him that often then maybe we can take him off their hands, what forwards can we offer them?” JB + JJ + A Mart for Stamkos???

… And you’re telling me I can’t be serious??? Why on Earth would the Lightning trade a franchise player for a goalie who is never used, a defenseman who is poor defensively, and a 27-year-old fringe player? I don’t think Steve Yzerman is retarded.

Bernier isn’t going anywhere. If they trade Bernier, that lets Quick ask for a extension and pay raise. Quick could easily tell Lombardi to fuck off if he doesn’t get money equal to any elite goalie. He is making 1.8 million he now which is a bargain.

The Kings do not have someone who can backup Quick, I wouldn’t want to see Zatkoff or Jones sitting on the bench when they should be playing in the AHL.

Burn out or injury, the Kings need Bernier. In the 09/10 playoffs, Quick had busted ribs if I recall correctly, but Murray still played in, and left Ersberg on the bench.

The Kings are screwed, unless they unload prospects, which were part of that build from the back theory of Lombardi.

I think he has built too much from the back, and has nobody remotely ready to play in the NHL.

Kozun should be up. Moller would look good right now on the third line when used efficiently like a scoring line. Holloway would have looked good on the fourth. Dean hasn’t done dick at the forward position in terms of drafting and development but his hiring of Terry Murray and the loss of quality depth forwards as a result, such as Moulson, Purcell and Boyle are part of the reason we are here.

Why wouldn’t it be ok to have Jones/Zatkoff as our backup goalie? Makes no sense. Eventually we’re going to have to take chances and show confidence in our prospects.

And I know I’ll get flamed for this, but we could get quite the return for Quick right now. It wouldn’t be a bad move if you consider the return, and if you believe Bernier is almost as good as Quick. Plus we wouldn’t have to pay Quick up the ass in a year for his UFA contract. The value of an inexpensive goalie almost as good as Quick could be balanced out by the piece we get in return. It wouldn’t be popular, but I think we could get a major player for him.

Call me crazy though. I have always been a fan of Quick and was not one of those freaks who thought Bernier was better. So it’s not like I’m one of those freaks.

If you look at it from a value perspective, it makes complete sense. He is due a fat contract, he’s still got a year (or two?) left on his cheap contract. Send him off now while we can get an elite winger for him, possibly even straight up since his value is so high.

We probably end up taking back some salary this year, but we could potentially dump Penner/Stoll or some other loser making too much money on waivers or as an add-in on the trade or hope Gagne goes on LTIR.

Bernier is almost as good as Quick, has more years left until he’s UFA, and we’ve got two AHL all-star goalies in Manchester to back him up. I think we can afford to lose one of our goalies. I mean, fuck, Chicago won with Niemi. Goaltending is important, but getting reamed up the ass with a huge contract is not worth it for diminishing returns (the diff. between Quick and Bernier). You can win the cup without The Greatest Goalie In The World.

I agree it is a controversial move, so it’d have to go for the right pieces and show immediate results or else you have lots of alienated fans and a fired GM. The problem we have this year is that TM fucked up our goalie situation without getting any results, and now DS basically has to win at all costs right now in order to even make the playoffs. Bernier should have received more games so we could at least shop him this year.

BTW, just so you don’t think I’m one of those obsessive Bernier lovers, I think Quick is definitely, without a doubt, the better goaltender.

… Actually, trading Quick would be an incredibly good move, and would bring back quite a bit, as I don’t think his value will ever be higher than it is now – but this organization would never have the eggs to do that.

All of the Kings’ goaltending prospects will either flame out or be playing with other teams. That’s the problem with building from the net out – it’s very easy to accumulate TOO much goaltending, and what ends up happening is that a team will trade away a goalie who becomes better than the one they held onto … Chicago traded Dominik Hasek for peanuts because they had Ed Belfour, San Jose traded Miikka Kiprusoff for a draft pick because they had Evgeny Nabokov, J.S. Giguere was dealt off for a song because Calgary thought they were alright with Freddy Brathwaite. It happens quite a bit.

There is no way Quick gets moved when you can move JB and DD. You don’t get rid of the guy who wins you games when you can’t score 2 goals on avg. You trade the two enigmas. Everyone values them and for no proven reason.

You package those two together and you can pick a lot of NHL talent – Nash or Parise. If you want to move just DD, that will fetch you Iggy.

Those moves are the right ones. If the Kings move Quick, it will be the last move DL makes.

My best guess is that your hatred for LGK causes you to label popular opinions you don’t like as belonging to LGKers. Such as “Quick is the main reason we are winning games.” An opinion held by most of the fans, the broadcasters and the coach, but that you insist is a fallacy.

The Roll tide thing… I don’t know anything about football so it means absolutely nothing to me.

I’m curious to see what Sutter does going forward with our prospects. I have a bit more hope but I’m not sure there is anyone available this season. Moller and others might get a real shot in training camp. For now the players need to do their jobs. OK, the forwards need to do their jobs. SCORE!!!!!

Trade Quick? Everybody here realizes that with the lack of goal production from our front lines, he is the only thing keeping the kings from being the islanders, right?
They do need to make a serious trade, but bernier is the one that needs to be on the block along with some of the non productive frontline players. I mean c’mon, they gave away Simmonds and Schenn for Richards so they could pay Drew Doughty? He is nothing more than a slightly above average defenseman. They have plenty of guys who could fill his spot in Manchester and be just as average.

Not only that, not giving Moller or Holloway an opportunity. Instead you let them walk away to Europe. Look at the list of productive guys that have gone on to be productive offensive players elsewhere. I.E. Moulson, Purcell, Boyle, etc.
Dean Lombardi needs to go and take Darryl Sutter with him.

Moller was encouraged to go to Europe. Moller was given a chance but Murray didn’t utilize him right and kind of destroyed the kid’s confidence and steered him in the wrong direction as a hockey player. So when Moller wanted to go to Europe, the Kings said “great idea”. Holloway on the other hand bolted without the Kings’ blessing. The situations are pretty different with the two players.

“Moller was encouraged to go to Europe. Moller was given a chance but Murray didn’t utilize him right and kind of destroyed the kid’s confidence and steered him in the wrong direction as a hockey player.”

… Waaaaait a minute, now. This paints a different picture about Moller being “encouraged” to go to Europe.

And as for Murray being the evil destroyer of Moller’s confidence, Murray was playing Oscar almost 15 minutes a game when he was up with the Kings last season. It was ultimately Lombardi’s choice to keep Moller down in Manchester for 3/4 of the season, right?

And both Lombardi and Murray were in agreement over why Moller didn’t get a chance.

“It is a chance for him to mature more physically. He still has a young body,” Lombardi said via email.

… I’d say the responsibility for Moller being where he is now is far more Lombardi’s than Murray’s.

There was a video interview, different than the one that Mayor article is quoting I believe, where Lombardi said he supported Moller’s decision to go to Europe, that it would be good for his development. Perhaps I just interpreted him wrong.

But even by that article you can see there is a clear distinction in his attitude towards Moller and Holloway. Holloway is the one that pissed him off. Moller mabye disappointed him, but Holloway made him angry.

And yes, Lombardi deserves some blame for Moller’s stunted development, as he does for us still failing to develop our own scoring talent, but I put the blame on Murray for trying to turn Moller into a checking line winger… you know, that thing he did with almost all of his players.

“ I put the blame on Murray for trying to turn Moller into a checking line winger”

… He got around 2:20 of power play time per game last season, and he was shuttled between Smyth and Stoll’s line and Lewis and Clifford’s.

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to see Moller get more ice on the top two lines, also. But the main thing that stunted his development was wasting most of the season playing in the minors, where he really didn’t have anything to prove.

Well regardless of the reason or the blame, I think we can agree that Moller is a prime example of why the Kings suck at developing forwards. He had skill, leadership abilities AND the heart of a lion. He should be scoring 15-20 goals in the NHL right now.

I agree with this and MUCH of that falls on Lombardi who mismanaged Moller throughout Oscar’s tenure here, just as he mismanaged Holloway. If they didn’t fit that bullshit every forward has to be a grinder or else mentality, they didn’t play. I put that on Lombardi as much as Murray especially when Murray was a reflection of Lombardi.

It really doesn’t matter now anyways. Murray was still behind the bench to start the season, so even if Moller was playing he would have been on the 3rd or 4th line.
If they kicked Lewis off, and used Moller who has speed and does not have hands like feet, maybe with Richardson and Clifford they could add some more grit and potential offense.
I still don’t understand why Cliche/Kozun/Vey are not being brought up, and sending Loktionov back down.
Again as I stated above, you do not trade Quick, and you do not trade Bernier.
Lombardi needs to tell Sutter to use Bernier in more games. After all it was Murray who proclaimed Bernier was going to play in more games this season than he did last season. Maybe what Murray really meant was Bernier was going to see more games, except from the bench. Currently he isn’t even going to match the number of games he played in last season.
I think Lombardi is screwed and backed into a corner. He has proven he is a complete idiot by caving into Doughty, and making a trade for Penner, which included a 1st round pick. I don’t care about Teubert, another Lombardi fuckup, along with Hickey.
The Kings need to ride this one out, and let Stoll and Penner walk after the end of the season.
You extend Mitchell, and then you don’t mess around and on July 1st at 12:01 AM sign Parise. NJ can’t afford him, and this is either going to make Lombardi or break Lombardi.
As I have said before, Lombardi has never been able to sign a big name UFA. Either that is due to Lombardi or a flag that the organization is a mess, and to stay away.